When Justice Watches

[Our story starts in New York, more precisely in the docks of the city, where a tv crew is recording some footage, except... "Checking out the beautiful scenery." said a cameraman, filming the docks but focusing a lady "Well, hello."]

“Aaaand we really start well” said Hawkgirl sarcastically. Opinion shared by the multiple female heroes, while the male superheroes thought the same but in addition with a sense of embarrassment

["Oh, come on, man. You're embarrassing yourself." responded his coworker.]

[Cameraman: "Dude, would you relax?" Unfortunately, it seemed karma didn't agree with him, as evidenced by the laser that hit the beach "Whoa! What was that?"]

["I don't know." said his coworker]

[The crowd panicked as they saw more lasers fly, including ones who hit a ferris wheel.]

“Nevermind this is what we were thinking about” remarked Hal, the heroes now paying closer attention to the action.

["Look! What is that thing?" The cameraman finally filmed what seemed to be the cause of the attacks, a giant robot. However, the robot seemed to be facing something, evident in the explosions that were emerging from his body and the flying smaller thing "Oh, man! What is it? This is for real, dude! Oh, man, let's get out of here." No soon had he said that, the robot finally exploded... nah, it was fine, and he had caught the smaller figure in it's hands.]

“A giant robot? Man that is such a classical enemy” remarked Booster, talking to his sitting partner… who was Red Tornado. “Ooofff…”

“I agree, Booster, giant robots are quite famous for being a characteristic enemy of superheroes” responded the robot, while Booster breathed in relief

“Hey it kinda looks like my dad, doesn’t it?” asked Stargirl to Supergirl, to which the latter had to agree

“Hey doesn’t he kinda look like Brimstone?” asked Beast Boy, making his team scrutiny the robot

“You’re right” agreed Cyborg, his best bro

“I mean, this one is not on fire, but it ressembles him”

“Think this means that there are going to be people similar to us?” asked Wally, thinking about all the dimensional counterparts

“It is very likely. We can only hope that they are good” responded Donna

On the other hand, every single member of the Batfamily were doing what they did best, analyze the threat closely and start preparing countermeasures for it.

“Hey Batman, do you see…?”

“Yes, the smaller figure, it doesn’t look like it has been defeated"

["Dude, did you feel that? Oh, man, I am out of here." Best decision he made, because the robot started coming for the docks. "It's coming this way. I'm so out of here!" But then the robot exploded (this time truly), making it so flying parts of it, flaming parts, came crashing towards the docks, where the people where screaming and fleeing in panic "Gary, where are you, man?"]

“Oh shit” was the single thought every hero had, seeing the people panic and lose all composure. It got worse because the cameraman seemed to be clearly about to… well not die but suffer bodily harm

[And the day of the cameraman worsened, as he saw one of the flaming pieces come down onto him "Oh, man!" he screamed, thinking this was his end, hyperventilating... until he saw the smaller figure suddenly arrive and grab the debris from under, stopping his fall with what looked like propulsors. It was an armored figure, red and yellow with blue spheres, similar to a human]

["I--I--I--" the reporter stammered, voiceless at the sight of the hero]

["Iron Man." said the metal man, helping the reporter complete his line.]

[Iron Man]

[Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist]

“OK people we have our first hero! Batsman, thoughts on him?” Barry said, having done a little drumming with his hands, before giving the floor to a nonchalant Batman

“…He seems to be a baseline human, evidenced by the usage of power armor. In turn, he packs much firepower and strength seeing as he was able to destroy the giant robot and effortlessly hold that flaming debris”

“Hey S.T.R.I.P.E., come closer here, let’s see if this new guy has some tricks we can… take inspiration from” said Steel, getting closer to the screen, with the called out being pushed out of his surprise by his (step)daughter

“Pathetic, that armor clearly looks inferior to us Jaime Reyes. That entity’s promise seem to not be able to come up to size”stated Khaji-Da, making his wielder facepalm.

["That incredible footage coming in from California as Iron Man saved the city from what eyewitness call--" the news report on Tv was stopped by a man in military clothes shutting off the TV on the car he and another man were driving. The other man was a bearded adult male, who was driving the car]

["A giant robot? Really? You could have told me." said the military man, Rhodey]

[James “Rhodey” Rhodes]

[He will use any opportunity to take off his shirt (Tony's words)]

["I don't like to brag, but that footage didn't capture how big that thing really was. I mean huge."responded Tony, the other man, while accelerating his Ferrari]

“That is Iron Man?” asked Diana, everyone quickly watching the inventor drive a little bit fast.

‘I know your pain dude’ thought Captain Atom and Jon Stewart, having dealt with their own loose cannons in the military. Actually, they still dealt with them, only these were not military.

[Okay, look, that just makes my point for me. SHIELD should be fighting giant robots, not you. They're not the bad guys, Tony. And they need your help." said Rhodey, looking exasperated with his best friend]

["I'm out of the weapons making game, Rhodey. You're looking at a kinder, gentler Tony Stark." responded Tony]

“Press X to doubt” remarked Impulse, making his team snort, similar actions being repeated by the other heroes.

“If that is worse, I want to see the kindest he is not” said Bizarro, his teammates nodding with him.

["That fights super-villains." sarcastically remarked Rhodey, while Tony overtook a truck by passing through a very small space, with the truck blaring it's horn]

["We've been over this a million times. You're starting to bum me out."remarked Tony.]

[But Rhodey was not so easily stopped "What about the Hulkbuster unit? Even if you won't build weapons for SHIELD, you can still help them take out that monster.]

“We have new names” said the Batfamily, quickly inputting information in the online whiteboard they had created. Words included Iron Man, Rhodey, SHIELD and now Hulkbuster. Spoiler, though, quickly added ‘Hulk/Monster?’

“I mean, the name of that unit has to come from somewhere, doesn’t it?” asked the blonde detective, her friends agreeing with her reasoning.

["I am not listening to Rhodey anymore. La la la. I can't believe this is what you wanted to meet about. The giant robot was more fun than you." Tony muttered, while he arrived to a gigantic building with the word -STARK- on it's facade]

At this, those who knew the identities of the league turned to look at Batman and Green Arrow, because come on, if he was another rich guy who suited up to fight crime then this had to be at least ironic.

On the other hand, Booster stood silent, quickly taking in everything that was happening. A cocky, wise-cracking hero who used armor probably built with his money? It was like looking at him and Ted combined. Skeets stood closer to its owner, cuddling to him like a, I wanna say cat.

[The scenario changes to the interior of a garage filled with luxurious cars, with a red-headed woman in secretary clothes was waiting, while sighing and looking at her clock, until she saw the car arrive, from where Tony emerged and went straight to her.]

["Pepper. I already know you're a great assistant, okay? You don't have to park my car, too. We've got valets for that." tried to joke Tony, which, seeing Pepper's face, didn't seem to work]

[Pepper Potts]

[They don’t pay her enough for this shit]

“Ooff that’s no good dude” said Dick, having experience with those same actions. Only, Pepper had been a badass old butler named Alfred, and he had been punished by having to clean the whole manor. Jason also had done a similar experience, only with a much more… crash language. He still remembers the taste of soap.

["For someone who makes their living off of technology, you should try answering your phone. I've been calling you for the last 20 minutes." answered Pepper]

[Aw, because you miss me so much." joked Tony]

[Which didn't work because Pepper dropped the bomb "Because HYDRA just attacked the United Nations."]

“WHAT?” shouted everyone at that statement

“Damn we’re right into the fire” said SHAZAM, as stumped as the other heroes. Which honestly, was fair, because not every day some terrorists decided to openly attack the central governing body of the world.

[Helicopter blades whirled. From the sea, next to the UN headquarters, what looks like a giant robot emerged. The robot was composed of a giant head in the shape of a skull with cannons on top and sides, while from under where tentacles surged and carried it. From a hole which opened, soldiers clad in green and yellow armor descended, raining fire]

[Hydra]

[The guys nobody likes]

“I’m sorry, what the heck kind of design is that?” asked Static, weirded at the shape of the robot. He had dealt with weird shit in Dakota, but that thing was a class on it’s own

“It looks like the forbidden love child between a human and an octopus” stated Thea, drawing groans from her compatriots “I’m not apologizing”

Diana knew, from the instant she saw them… that she hated them. She didn’t know why, but she just felt that they were natural enemies. Amusingly, Red Tornado, the Hawks and the Star & Stripes duo thought the same.

Meanwhile, the more combat oriented heroes and detectives quickly started analyzing the new terrorists, making theories about their motives and origins, as an organization with name clearly had some history.

“I see, they are a sect of Nazis who survived the fall of the Third Reich” announced Question, with everyone looking at him wild, because that theory quickly came out of the blue. Huntress could only gap at her boyfriend before deciding not to try to think of how many leaps of logic he had taken.

["This happening right now? Where's SHIELD?" asked Tony]

["There's a military detail at the U. N." explained Pepper " But, Tony, it's a full assembly. Every world leader is attending, including the President." at hearing this, Tony started to move]

["Hey, where are you going?" asked Rhodey]

["Pepper, reschedule my lunch meeting. I'm gonna be a few minutes late." was what Tony said]

“That’s good, if the UN fell, then the world would get very chaotic at least” said Donna, thanking the fact that a hero was going to save those stuffy, pampered, judgemental, overprideful… hard-working people. Yeah, she didn’t know why she had decided to give a try at being an ambassador.

[Scenario change, now Tony is wearing what looks like a technological suit, approaching a big metal cage "Jarvis, fire it up."]

["Very good, sir. Initiating the Mark 6." the A.I. responded, opening the cage to allow Tony to enter. There, he was suited by machinery in the armor he ha dpreviously worn, the armor of Iron Man]

[JARVIS]

[Alfred Pennyworth’s biggest rival]

[The next thing, Iron Man was flying through the skies, destination U.N., objectives, kick Nazi ass]

“Damn that was cool” muttered the members of Young Justice and the majority of more ‘childish’ heroes.

“Hey Skeets look, he also has an intelligent partner!” excitedly said Booster, shaking his robotic partner

["Be careful, man." Rhodey said from his intercom]

["Why would I start now? I'll be 10 minutes max. Trust me." responded Tony]

“Oof, this kinda hurts” said Green Arrow, remembering the time from when he was a prick overconfident. Also, the time when he thought he could take the whole of Starling city.

Unknown to him, the World’s finest were also thinking the same.

[On the headquarters, it was chaos, with the military trying (and failing) to contain the attacks of Hydra, but doing shit, specially towards the giant robot which attacked the buildings. Luckily, just as it was going to shoot at the military tanks, a blue laser shot, blowing a hole clean through the skull of the robot]

“You did good soldiers, now let the reinforcements take care of the rest” said C.Atom, Stewart and Shining Knight nodding with him.

["Timber" joked Tony, watching the robot fall down back into the ocean "What do we got, Jarvis?"]

["Armor is down to 40% after using the uni-beam which I recommend against." sassed Jarvis]

“Heh, seems like the apple doesn’t fall from the tree” laughed Curtis, noting how the AI was similar to Tony.

["I meant on the ground." responded back Tony, also sassing]

["Ah, yes. 14 HYDRA targets all heavily armed, sir." said the AI, showing all the hostiles]

["Huh. Maybe I should have brought Rhodey along. Jarvis, activate external speakers." Tony asked his Ai, which it confirmed "Attention, HYDRA goons. You've been trying to take over the world for 60 years. It's not happening." His speech was cut off by a missile thrown by one of the Hydra soldiers]

["He actually shot at me." he dodged it easily, but come on, it was the principle of the matter "Fine. We'll do it the hard way."]

“Oh no they didn’t!” laughed Gardner at seeing one of the mooks shoot at the hero.

“I know, what kinda mooks don’t wait for the hero to finish?” laughed Fire too, while Ice facepalmed at her boyfriend and best-friend/sister from another mother actions.

[With that, Tony flew down, diving through the fire, shooting form his arm a missile which expelled mini-disks that attached themselves to the weapons, beeping for seconds before exploding, with HYDRA soldiers yelling as they were brought down.]

[Two Hydra goons hiding were then terrified at seeing Iron Man pick up one of the cars like nothing "Hi, there." said Tony, before shooting them with a repulsor]

“Well damn that’s some tricky little thing” praised Cyborg, making mental maps of how to re-create that weapon. A high-speed mini-missile that could take out weapons and mooks at the same time? Also, it gave him an excuse to work on miniaturization tech.

Batman said nothing, only watching at how his kids inmediately drew sketches and theories about the weapon. Clark and Diana looked at him while smiling, at the Batdad.

“He also boasts some good strength” noted Aqualad, seeing him effortlessly pick up an armored truck with one hand. That kind of strength was usually seen in common metas with super-strength

[From the giant robot, however, three spheres where shot, alarming Jarvis who shouted "Warning, incoming projectile." but the warning didn't come fast enough, the shock making Tony stumble]

“Oh shit” everyone exclaimed

["What was-- Jarvis?" Tony asked his helper, seeing now three giant robots advance menacingly towards him]

["Armor power down to 32%. Recommend recharging." He wasn't very helpful]

["Target acquired. Designation, Iron Man. Destroy." said the robots, each one demonstrating a certain ability, one's eyes lighting up, another spewing fire from its mouth and the last one activating its drill]

“Beware, Iron Man, they have sent the Dreadnoughts!” shouted Shining Knight, alarming Vigilante “Evade their Nemesis Doom Fists!”

“Dude, I don’t think these are your Grey Knight Dreadnougths” sweatdropped Vigilante

[Scenario change, we are now on a giant flying ship, manned by men and women in uniform. The main one was looking at the holographic screens, his posture and eyepatch of power demonstrating leadership "Update"]

“Ohh secret organization everyone. Think this is A.R.G.U.S. counterpart?” asked Hal, eating some popcorn he had made in advance. His personal popcorn. No Barry, the puppy eyes may work on Iris, but not on me.

This same situation was happening in Titans Tower, with Dick having to push off Wally.

“Let’s see first if they are actually competent first, cause we know our organization track record” remarked Hawkman, making Diana grunt, but she had to agree that the organization had fallen after their previous comrades had retired.

["The Helicarrier is roughly five minutes out at this speed." answered one of his subordinates "Our local SHIELD units are under attack and unable to respond."]

["That's five minutes too long, Hill." stated the man "You got any news that's actually useful for me?."] ["I-- I-- [radio chatter.] Sir, Iron Man has arrived on the scene." answered Mariah]

[Nick Fury]

[“The SPY”]

[Mariah Hill]

[Lady, lay off the heroes]

“Oh Raoh, Waller has a male counterpart!” exclaimed Supergirl, horrified. The reaction was shared by many of the superheroes, because this man looked like Waller’s lost brother.

["Jarvis, talk to me." groaned Tony, receiving a curbstomp from the three robots "Divert all power to shields And analyze that blast." ]

["Shields not responding." answered the Ai, to which Tony could only say "That's not good." before flying and evading the drill from a robot, only to then have to do it with the numerous missiles shot at him]

["Alert, new contact." Jarvis said, just moments before Tony was knocked by a robot int the buildings, before both fell onto the fountain]

“Ouch, this is certainly different than with the mooks” said SHAZAM, watching Tony be ragrolled by the robots

“It may be that he is not still used to fighting these kinds of enemies. By his friend’s words, he has just recently become a hero” acknowledged Aquaman, remembering when he had first been introduced to Atlantis and water-combat, even if he was a natural, he still got his ass kicked. A lot.

["Blast analysis completed, sir." "Now? This thing is about to drill through my head." answered Tony, dodging the robots who clearly hadn't heard of Assimov's laws]

["The targets are HYDRA Dreadnought class robots, but they've been upgraded with repulsor tech weapons." answered Jarvis, startling Tony and turning him furious]

“I knew it!” “Justin, you didn’t know shit!”

["That's my tech. HYDRA's using my technology against me?" he grumbled, strained from his fight against the foes]

“Oooh, that has to hurt” the heroes certainly knew the pain of suddenly having to face someone with their powers/weapons/styles.

Like the archers with Merlyn, or the lanterns with the enemy corps (meaning 3, 4 if the Sapphires were feeling jerkish). And the AMAZOs. Fucking AMAZOs.

["Electromagnetic pulse." shouted Tony, only for Jarvis to negate it "Not enough power."]

["Fine, divert power to repulsor's." that was doable for Jarvis, and Tony started shooting powerful lasers to the robots... who now were using forcefields.]

["You've got to be kidding me. That's my shielding." he said, before one of the robots slammed into him and sent him flying to the building "Uni-beam!"]

“Damn this guy doesn’t catch a breath” murmured Simon, this was giving him flashbacks to when Kilowog pummeled trained him, all those goddamn constructs. On the other side of the room Crush and Hawk were laughing their asses off.

["Ill-advised. Your current operating power is not sufficient to energize the uni-beam." Tony, however, couldn't care as the robots were throwing him around like a ragdoll "I need those shields, Jarvis."]

["Repulsor shield re-boot sequence already in progress." said Jarvis, to the joy of his builder]

["Fine." said Tony, now flying to the sky in front of the robots "Come on, you pieces of junk. Show me what else you got. Because you probably stole it from me, too." raged Tony]

“You know, I shouldn’t be condoning his actions but… Fuck them UP!” shouted S.T.R.I.P.E., eliciting laughs and cheers from many of the heroes, specially his daughter who was laughing her ass off.

["I'm sure he's gonna be fine, Pepper. That armor, it's invincible." said Rhodey, trying to calm down one of his best friends]

["I'm not worried about the armor, Rhodey. I'm worried about him. He's all alone out there against the people who stole his technology." explained Pepper " Tony is out there all by himself and there's nothing that we can do to help him. I understand why he feels he has to do this. I just don't understand why he has to do it alone." finished Pepper]

Clark knew. It was guilt. The feeling that you needed to take care of everything in the world, that you couldn’t shake even when there were as many people willing to help. Thank god Lois had staged the intervention and stopped his funk.

[Tony was now finally on the offensive, making damage to the robots,succeding in grabbing one of them and throwing it to another, before he, thanks to Jarvis finding it, grabbed what looked like a power source "Mine." he should have been more vigilant, cause there was still one robot.]

“One down baby” shouted Mal, cheering with the other titans. [ And meanwhile, one of the Hydra soldiers woke up and grabbed the rocket launcher "Not yet."]

“Oh come on, what are the odds?” shouted Impulse, shaking in his seat. He usually kept it under control, but action scenes really moved him

[Tony was still fighting the robot, who managed to knock him down, his flaming maw coming close to the hero. But Tony was not without his tricks, as he used the repulsors in his feet to melt down the dreadnought]

“Damn”

“That’s some serious firepower” muttered Cyborg, making note of start designing new shoes. He usually preferred his arms, but he had some pretty great legs from his days as quarterback, and flying without a vehicle would be cool.

["Warning-- weapons lock detected." advised Jarvis, before Tony was blasted by missiles from one of the dreadnoughts he had previously smashed together]

[He got up, watching the dreadnought come closer... before he was shot upon by multiple lasers from the sky. Turning his head upwards, he saw multiple jets and a giant flying ship come to the headquarters "Sure, now you finally get here." he said, before seeing multiple soldiers descending, clad in armor very similar to his]

“Oh come on, what kind of kill-steal is that?” raged Damian, while Jon was sweatdropping at his best friend’s wrath.

["Iron Man, by the authority of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division, you are hereby ordered to stand down." said one soldier, angering the hero, while Fury and his crew watched from the helicarrier "Iron Man, I repeat, stand down, by order of SHIELD."]

“Oh my god they are like CADMUS and every force under Waller or Eiling” groaned Tim, with his teammates doing the same, remembering all the times the Whale and the general had tried to get them under their thumbs

["Your orders, sir?"asked Mariah, only for Fury to stay silent]

["Jarvis, make a note. Remind me not to wake up in the morning ever again." said Tony, to which his butler replied "Noted, sir."]

["How's the uni-beam power level?" "26.2%. Recharge in progress. With no further energy expenditure, the uni-beam will be available in 2 minutes 42 seconds." informed the AI]

“That’s going to be a thing to look out for, will have to make a power source strong enough for numerous repetitions”mumbled Steel, writing down the schematics.

“Heh, inferior human technology. This is why I’m clearly the superior suit” loudly declared Khaji-Da.

“Wait, is it jealous of Iron Man?” asked Megan silently her boyfriend, which he ended up laughing as it seemed true

["This is your last warning. Stand down." continued the dumbass soldier]

["Unless you guys are here to thank me for doing your job for you, I'm not in the mood for this." look out Percy Jackson, you have a contender for the king of sassiness]

["You'll need to come with us, Iron Man." seriously, it's like this guy is trying to become dumber.]

["I don't think so." responded Tony, while Jarvis kept up with reports "Uni-beam power is at 52%."]

“By Raoh, why do the government agents always say that? It’s like they become dumber when they encounter us” complained Supergirl

“I know right? Hey, superhero, I don’t care how many lives you have saved, you have to come with us so we may put you in prison and steal all your things for us. Just come clean and say it assholes!” stated Stargirl, scandalizing her dad and drawing laughs from other leaguers

["Jarvis, scan the mandroids." ordered Tony, having a guess about it, and it was correctly proved when Jarvis said "Alert-- seven components of the mandroid armor are derived from Stark Industries Technology."]

["That's some nice armor you got there. Who's your tailor?" taunted Tony]

“Vindication!”

“Ohoho busted” laughed Cheshire, preparing for when Iron Man started beating these thieves. Sentiment shared by many in the team

‘Damnit why are my teammates are such blood knights’ though Cassandra, watching her big brother in particular, seeing him anxious for the beatdown

[Director Fury, Iron Man just scanned the mandroid armor. Why would he do that?" asked Hill, in a moment of clearly not much brightness]

[Call them back. Tell the mandroids to stand down. We did not come here to fight Iron Man." fortunately, Fury was there to make up for his organizations trigger-happy tendencies]

["Sir?" "Do it."]

“No way, Waller’s counterpart is good?!” said Plastic, the idea hitting like a truck

“Ehh, I think it’s more that he is reasonable” remarked Metamorpho, stretching his hand to get more popcorn

["Where did you get that armor?" Tony continued to apply pressure, with the soldiers retreating but at the same time saying "Back away." However, one of the dreadnoughts suddenly emerged from the rubble]

["Where did you get that armo... Look out!" warned Tony, preparing his guns, unfortunately, the soldiers were not only dumb, but also deaf "Open fire." and they decided to rain lasers on Iron Man, while the dreadnought approached them from behind]

“WHY?”

“HOW DON’T THEY NOTICE?!"

"GODDAMNED BUREAUCRATS!"

[Tony groaned before he, in a show of power, used low level shots to take out the soldiers closer to the Hydra robot and then using the motherfucking Unibeam to blow up the Dreadnought, epically. System rebooting, Tony got up and approached the downed Mandroid soldiers, specifically the dumbass leader]

“Phew, at least there weren’t casualties” breathed Powergirl in relief, with many heroes releasing their breaths

["You all right? Good. I need to borrow this." Tony said]

["We've lost all mandroid feeds. Trying to get a location on Iron Man." said Hill, while Fury started to look behind him "Let me guess." and behold, Iron Man suddenly flew in]

“Oh man, epic staredown coming!” shouted excitedly Hal & Barry, the two making Batman and Stewart facepalm.

["You want to explain this, Fury? You stole my tech" said Tony, approaching the leader of SHIELD, before Mariah pointed a gun at his head "Tony Stark, step away from Director Fury now. You are under arrest. If he moves, open fire." said Hill to all the crewmembers, who had their weapons pointed at the superhero]

["Stand down, Hill." Fury, you're a fucking godsend.]

“Can we change Waller for this guy?” Pleaseeee…” pleaded Impulse to his leader, the same puppy dog faces in the rest.

“So you want to unleash Waller in that world?” responded Aqualad, non-plussed

“…damnit”

["But, sir, he attack the mandroid unit." compalined Maria, dumbly "He saved them, Maria. And in case you forgot, he saved the United Nations from HYDRA while we were on a wild goose chase. So stand down." man does Fury know how to make dumbasses listen to him]

“…At the very least, this guy has more common sense than Waller, thank god” said Nightwing. Were they really picking on very harshly on the Wall? Maybe, but that bitch deserved it. (The only good version she has is her DCAU one, and that is after she retired and had committed many atrocities)

["You used my inventions to make war machines." complained Tony, but Fury didn't care "Come on, Stark. You've been selling us weapons and technology for years. We've just modified what you gave us."]

“Typical government speech for ‘Yes, we stole it but we’re not going to give you any credit or compensation’” grumbled C.Atom, his memories at being transformed and the government trying to use him as a tool angering him. Fortunately, he had his barrack sister Kate to help him calm down

[Unfortunately, Tony was not one of Fury's drones "Modified? Try twisted. You twisted what I made. And then you let it leak to HYDRA." this got an angry reaction from the director]

["Come again?" SHIELD got hacked, Fury, and you know it. Those HYDRA dreadnaughts are about two degrees off your mandroids." stated Tony]

“Am I the only one who feels this is going to end bad?” asked Khalid, his teammates giving him the reason.

“Oh god this is foreshadowing” shouted Beast Boy alarmed, his girlfriend face-palming.

["Those mandroids will save lives, Stark. That's what SHIELD does. And when you withhold resources from us, you're just giving the advantage to groups like HYDRA." said every government leader who wanted business to give them favourable things]

["You are not getting this, are you? Weapons don't solve problems. They only make problems worse." I mean, I want to give you the right Tony, but you kinda wear a WMD]

“…uuuh, I mean… yeah we can’t say anything about that” remarked Hawkgirl, feeling conflicted at how to answer. True, weapons did sometimes worsen the situation, but a big part of their job was beating criminals, alien invasions or even magical demons revered as a god on her planet who resembled octopi.

“While that statement is true, sometimes the usage of force is needed to help save people. What we must remember is not to forget that violence isn’t the only answer, but the last” helped J’onn, shaking some doubts that were planting themselves on the heroes (no future stupid storyline where they feel they only make things worse and give up only for villains to continue wreaking havoc)

[Which seemed to be the same line of thought Fury was having "Wake up. How exactly do you think our problems are going to get worse? You've seen what's out there. The tech Hydra's got. Super-villains coming out of the woodwork. Monsters like the Hulk. We need Tony Stark more than we need some armored vigilante. You can't do this alone. You're only one man." Fury doesn't really hold back on dressing downs]

[But Tony wasn't going to hear this from Fury "One of me is more than enough. I'll get my tech back on my own."he said, beginning to leave, only for the idiotic soldiers to point their rifles at him "Do you really want to go down this road, Fury?" this made the agents lower their weapons "By the way, there's about three dozen unconscious HYDRA agents waiting for you down there. No need to thank me" and with that said, Tony left the headquarters of the global peace-keeping organization]

“Male Wall- I mean Fury is right. While it is obvious he wants Iron Man to work for him, he is not wrong. The reason teams exist is because nobody can support the whole world by themselves.” Said Superman. Iron Man reminded him of, well himself, when he was younger, believing that only he could help the world. Thank god his friends had brought him out of his funk. If not, it would have been his ma, and he thanked Raoh that that didn’t happen.

“But Clark, don’t you remember when you lifted the sky, meaning the whole world?” asked Diana teasingly, getting some snickers from their friends. Clark could only look at her with a ‘Really’ look, and she responded in kind with an unashamed ‘Yes’.

["Sir, I--" started Maria, before Fury cut her "HYDRA got into our systems. We have a leak. Find it and plug it." "Yes, sir." "And get me the Black Widow."finished Fury"]

[Down there, the soldiers were being transported into planes in chains, however, one of them, rather old in fact, smirked at the sight of Iron Man leaving the scene "Keep moving. You scum are heading for the Vault." said a SHIELD soldier, unaware of the danger in his plane]

“… Anybody feel concerned?” asked Guy, looking at the mysterious soldier.

“Oh fuck, this was all a disguise for a trojan horse!” shouted Terrific alarmed, making the heroes worried, because when they thought about it, it made sense.

["I'm not gonna lie to you, Rhodey. There were three robots this time and guys in robot suits." bragged Tony in his dressing room, machines taking off his armor]

["I tried to watch it on TV, but Pepper wouldn't let me." answered Rhodey jovially, to which Tony only responded "She never watches."]

["I don't need to." sasses Pepper back "I already know you're gonna be late for your meeting."]

“Too true girl, it is like when all the people who need a chek-up decide to skip it because ‘They can’t rest with crime on the streets’” complained Kimiyo, several heroes suddenly looking at other directions, some even whistling, except Batman. She shot him her special patented glare, but the Batscowl wasn’t legendary for nothing.

[Rhodey also wanted to try again at convincing Tony out of his isolating lifestyle "You don't have to do it alone, you know?" "Do what?" "All this. Taking on SHIELD. Giant robots. Super-villains. The whole world doesn't have to rest on your shoulders." Rhodey implored]

["Yeah, it does." but Tony seemed to not listen "I mean, I know you guys are always there for me, but against this? Who's gonna help me?" said Tony, with everyone leaving the vault, the armor standing alone]

“Well, the other heroes? I mean, there is no way that this earth only has him as a superhero. Heck, if he needs help, he could just give an armor to Rhodey, even if just as a last resort” questioned Superboy.

“You’re right,but I can’t see Rhodey wearing such vibrant colors. He seems more like a… more cool guy” said Artemis, laughing at the horrible pun she had made, and the groans of her teammates.

[The planes arrived at what looked to be a large tower in the mountains, codename: The Vault, one of the most secure prisons in the world. The plane landed, with Fury at the head "Move them out."]

[One of the soldiers, clearly more important (wink) went to give the hand to Fury "Good to see you, Nick. But since when are you overseeing prisoner drop-offs?" "Since HYDRA decided to escalate their attacks on pretty much everyone. Thought I'd check in on our mutual friend, see what he knows. Hill, let's go." he explained, before calling his number two to follow him]

“Man, they got Arkham beat in terms of location, that’s a point in their favour” claimed Stephanie, looking at the prison built on a mountain range

“Counterpoint, if they take over the prison they can turn it into a fortress nearly impossible to get into” delivered Tim, because although the same had happened with Arkham (more times than they wanted to count), being next to the city meant they could quickly go, restock and arm themselves with whatever they needed. In this case it would be much harder.

["Tell me what you know." ordered Fury, with Hill answering fast "The Vault is the first of the super-villain prisons specifically created to hold tech based criminals and their gear. Designed by Tony Stark, until he decided to stop working on SHIELD projects."]

“Iron Man made a prison?” this really threw the heroes of their loop, because this was completely uncharted territory for them (be gladful it’s not Plan 42)

“So, tech criminals? Then that means someone like Toymaker would go there” noted Superman, considering what would happen if they had the Vault in their world.

“So would Freeze and Tetch, and Scarecrow, and Joker, and Firefly, and…” added Batman, thinking

“Blue Snowman and Doctor Poison for me”cut Diana, because Batman could keep going for at least a day

“Ooohh, nearly all my rogues would go there” noted Flash, being more accustomed to dealing with either metas or tech-wielding criminals

“If we ever had them imprisoned here, maybe the other lantern corps or space pirates”

“This all well and good, but you all forget, this place is already filled up” remarked Hawkgirl, making the room quiet after realising they were going to see this reality’s supervillains.

[They descended to one of the prison floors, which presented a number of... peculiar individuals "Current high-profile occupants include, Crimson Dynamo, Technovore, MODOC, and--" "HYDRA's boss, Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker." finished Fury, the door opening to show an old man with a monocle, classic villain get-up, in an isolated small jail, sitting while reading a book "Herr Director."]

[Baron Strucker]

[Suck it bro your children are incestuous]

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA…” shouted Khaji-Da at seeing the red monstruous individual that was Technovore” What is that monster???”

“Man, that guy has a big head, think he’s Psycho’s counterpart?” asked Guy to his girlfriend.

“Guy, just because two people resemble each other doesn’t mean they will be counterparts. And besides, Psycho doesn’t use technology, so would he truly be this villain’s counterpart?” responded Ice.

“…Oh my god I can’t believe Question is going to be right!” shouted Vixen, horrified at seeing that, in this earth, honest to god disgusting monsters like the Baron still existed, sentiment shared by all of the heroes.

“It is a curse, being always right” said Question, a little smug, Huntress thinking he looked a little cute.

[On another part of the prison, the guards where making the prisoners pass through the X-ray scan “Clear. Clear. Clear. Sir? Hold on.” One of them advised, calling the attention of his superior, while another opened a bag to see what looked like a red gauntlet “Agent Woo. Look at his arm. He’s got an implant.”]

“Shit! It truly was a trojan horse!” shouted Red Hood, his hands going to his pistols, though thankfully, he didn’t have them. The same could not be said for the members of his team with superstrength, who crushed their respective acommodations

[Woo quickly reacted and drew his pistol “Cyborg! Down on the ground now.”]

[“No need to panic, everyone. I’ve got a note from my doctor.” Said the enemy, who emerged from the machine by cutting it with his scythe arm, being the aged soldier, we had previously seen. (Hurray foreshadowing)]

[Grim Reaper/Eric Williams]

[Why couldn’t you be more like your brother?]

“Oh my god there truly was foreshadowing!” shouted Changeling

“Wait are we going to see a prison break right now?!” asked Tempest scared, because from the looks of it, Tony wouldn’t be prepared, and SHIELD probably wouldn’t be able to fight the entirety of the prison.

[“Take him out!” but try as they might, the soldiers fell to the enemy, who put on a hood and grabbed the bag holding the gauntlet “Yeah.” Remarked the psycho]

The room got silent, now fearful that this single man could end up causing a massive breakout.

[“Your questions amuse me, Nicholas. A pleasure as always.” Mocked Strucker, with Fury deciding to leave this waste of time “We’re done here.”]

[“Did you really think he was gonna tell you anything?” “You got a lot to learn, Maria.” Responded Fury to his number two “He told me plenty. Something’s down and soon. The question is what.” And this was the perfect moment, as alarms started to blare, making Fury turn to his comm “Woo, what’s happening?”]

[His response came on the shape of the enemy butcher, clad in a big cowl “Well, well, the great Nick Fury.”]

“He has a good head on his shoulders, if I wasn’t seeing it, I would have had the same thought process” noted Batman, now tense at seeing the reaper appear.

[Fury rapidly understood what had happened “The Grim Reaper. It was a setup. The whole attack on the U.N., all of it. Just to spring Baron Strucker.” Reaper chuckled, confirming his statement, before he moved to attack the agents. He dodged the fire by climbing the walls and knocked down Mariah by throwing her the bag, before moving to attack Fury, who pushed him back with a kick. Unfortunately, this was his plan, as he had cut the roof to make it fall, symbolized with his snap. He moved to Strucker’s cell, grabbing the bag and opening the door by slashes. He repeated it with the jail, before kneeling down and presenting the red gauntlet to Strucker, who stood up and grabbed it, putting it on his stump, and energy inmediately emerged from the old man. “Hail Hydra”]

“Well fuck. What do you guys think the gauntlet is for?” asked SHAZAM, scared at the supervillain having recovered his weapon.

“Honestly? I don’t think it’s tech. Callme crazy, but I’m kind of feeling that the gauntlet is magical” said Zatanna, looking at the two villains taking down every agent that came after them.

[More soldiers moved to intercept the criminals, but they were unable to stop them. One agent in particular shared the worst fate, as Strucker used his new red arm to steal his lifeforce, transplanting it to himself and turning younger. The Nazi assholes kept their escape, arriving to a car. But Fury showcased why he was the head of SHIELD, rapidly getting off the scrubble and moving to intercept the two. He got on a superior floor and jumped straight down without a fucking parachute, knowing full well that he either got on the flying car or dropped to painful injuries]

“So it steals lifeforce. That only adds credential to it being a magical artifact” said Aquaman. While he knew many advanced technology, that particular use seemed to dabble more on the mystical side.

“I will give it to that director, he has a good warrior attitude” praised Orion, making the heroes close to him jump, because he was just so quiet it was very surprising when he spoke. Nevertheless, his words ran true. Seeing a director of a dubious organization go so far to capture the criminals made them note that, whether he may seem untrustworthy, he was focused on the safety of the people, and they would be able to count on him.

[“Well, that was easy.” Reaper taunted, before Fury suddenly dropped onto the car, remarking “You’re not out yet.”]

[“Fury!” shouted Strucker startled, before using his arm to steal Fury’s lifeforce, and the two struggled until Fury got the upper hand and threw Strucker off the car. However, he had not gotten unscathed, as he was now older than before]

“Yes! One down!” shouted Guardian in glee, only for everyone to gasp at how Fury had gotten noticeably older. At least he was still in fighting shape.

[Struckler meanwhile attempted to get up, only for Hill to step on his red magic-arm “Don’t even think it, old man.” Ok lady, I give this one to you, that was nicely done, specially as Struckler grunted impotently]

[“You’re gonna suffer for that, Fury.” Furiously said Reaper, moving to slash the director, who dodged him. The two changed positions, which Fury used to accelerate the car. Unfortunately, Reaper had his scythe to hold on, and with more attacks, he made Fury have to grab the door, and by attacking the door, fall from the car]

“NO!” shouted everyone, except Batman, for two reasons. One, he doubted Fury wouldn’t have thought of that situation, call it ‘recognising a kindred spirit’, but he was sure he had his own plans. And second, he had seen what Fury had done.

[“That’s it, run. Run—" laughed Reaper, before noting his scythe arm had a device beeping “Ooo.” That said, the explosion made him and the car go kaboom, Reaper falling onto the snow of the mountain range]

[Fury, meanwhile, revealed he had a wingsuit, which he used to fall onto Reaper, knocking him down. On the Vault, Shield soldiers were carrying Strucker, armless again, into a cell, while Maria waited for Fury]

“And that’s how it’s done dog” cheered Static, everyone happily celebrating that the villains of that dimension had been stopped. Specially those Nazi sunuvabitches 

[Later, the two were in front of Reaper, who also missed his right arm and was behind energy bars “assault, conspiracy, infiltrating a government facility. You just broke into your new home, Reaper.” Having said that, the leaders of Shield left the new resident of prison]

[“Director Fury, This place, the Cube, the Big House, are all the super-villain prisons like this?” asked Hill, only for Fury to deliver a shocking line “No, all four are different.” “Four? I thought there were only three.”]

“…Wow, even the spy organization has secrets in itself” said Flash dumbfounded.

“That is concerning. With the Vault being for technology-based villains, then the Cube and the Big House may follow some kind of ‘theme’, like one prison being designed for meta-humans. So, who are the residents of the fourth prison, and why so much secrecy required?” pondered Diana, submerging the heroes deep in thought.

“We will definitely see it in the future. But this dimension is already going strong. In fact, call it a hunch, but I believe that the next episodes will feature more heroes who will, let’s say, become a friend group” said Clark, smiling at the end, drawing chuckles from his teammates.

“Then what are we waiting for, let’s go to the next one!” shouted Supergirl, and the sphere took this as a signal for playing the next episode.

[Next episode]

[A mighty hero]